Vehicle door frame structure and method of producing vehicle door frame

ABSTRACT

A door frame, a frame body which includes a glass opposing portion, a design portion positioned on one side of the glass opposing portion on the vehicle exterior side, a tubular portion positioned on the other side of the glass opposing portion on the vehicle interior side, and a glass guide portion having a concave cross section surrounding the edge of the door glass, is structured as a single member which is continuous from an upper sash portion to a side sash portion by having a uniform cross section from the upper to side sash portions, and by a bending process performed on the corner portion. The width of the design portion of the frame varies at least one area along the length thereof and the design portion of the frame body is covered with an exterior member.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/JP2010/067722, with an international filing date of Oct. 8, 2010,which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a vehicle door frame structure and amethod of producing the vehicle door frame.

BACKGROUND ART

FIG. 9 shows a front left door of a passenger vehicle, viewed from thevehicle exterior side. The door 50 is provided with a door panel 51 anda door frame 52 positioned on top of the door panel 51, and the areawhich is surrounded by the upper edge of the door panel 51 and the inneredge of the door frame 52 is defined as a window opening 53. A doorglass 54 is installed in the window opening 53 to be movable up anddown.

As shown in FIG. 10, a glass guide portion 55 having a U-shaped(concave-shaped) cross section which is open toward the window opening53 is formed on the inner periphery of the door frame 52, and an outerperipheral edge of the door glass 54 enters the glass guide portion 55when the door glass 54 closes the window opening 53. A glass run 56 madeof an elastic material is fitted in and held by the glass guide portion55, and the edge of the door glass 54 which has entered the glass guideportion 55 is elastically held by lips 56 a and 56 b of the glass run 56therebetween from the vehicle interior side and the vehicle exteriorside, respectively. Note that FIG. 10 shows the lips 56 a and 56 b in afree state, in which the lips 56 a and 56 b are in noncontact with thedoor glass 54; the lips 56 a and 56 b are elastically deformed indirections away from each other when contacting the door glass 54. Theglass guide portion 55 is provided on the vehicle interior side with aside wall portion 55 a which supports the lip 56 a and provided on thevehicle exterior side with a side wall portion 55 b which supports thelip 56 b on the vehicle exterior side.

The door frame 52 is provided with an upper sash 57 which forms theupper edge of the door and a side sash 58 which extends upwards from therear of the door panel 51. Although a cross-section structure of theside sash 58 is shown in FIG. 10, the upper sash 57 also has a similardoor glass holding structure composed of the glass guide portion 55 andthe glass run 56. In addition, it is sometimes the case that the widthfor holding the door glass 54 by the glass guide portion 55 (the amountof overlapping between the door glass 54 and the side wall portions 55 aand 55 b) in the upper sash 57 and the width for holding the door glass54 by the glass guide portion 55 (the amount of overlapping between thedoor glass 54 and the side wall portions 55 a and 55 b) in the side sash58 are made different from each other. For instance, in the side sash58, it is sometimes required to enhance the retention capability byincreasing the width for holding the door glass by the glass guideportion 55 so as to prevent the door glass 54 from vibrating andrattling in a half-open state, whereas in the upper sash 57 it issometimes required to reduce the width for holding the door glass by theglass guide portion 55 (especially the side wall portion 55 b) so as tonarrow the width of the design portion outwardly exposed.

To satisfy such demands, in Patent Literature 1, a frame portion of theupper sash and a frame portion of the side sash are formed as separatemembers having mutually different glass-holding widths in the glassguide portion and joined to each other at a corner portion of the doorframe which corresponds to the boundary between the upper sash and theside sash.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   Patent literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication    2007-137200

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Technical Problem

To form a frame which includes the glass guide portion from two separatemembers, one for the upper sash and the other for the side sash, andthereafter to join these two separate members to each other is costlyand troublesome to produce, and reduction thereof has been desired.Accordingly, the present invention provides a vehicle door framestructure which is low in production cost, high in productivity, andsuperior in flexibility of the setting of the cross sectional shape ofthe frame at different portions in the lengthwise direction of theframe, especially in the width of the design portion.

Solution to Problem

The present invention provides a vehicle door frame structure whichincludes an upper sash portion that holds an upper edge of anupward/downward movable door glass, a side sash portion that holds aside edge of the door glass and a corner portion positioned at aboundary between the upper sash portion and the side sash portion, thevehicle door frame structure including a frame body which includes aglass-opposing portion that is opposed to an edge of the door glass, adesign portion that is positioned on one side of the glass-opposingportion on a vehicle exterior side and a tubular portion that ispositioned on the other side of the glass-opposing portion on a vehicleinterior side, wherein the frame body is structured as a single memberwhich is continuous from the upper sash portion to the side sash portionby forming a glass guide portion from the glass-opposing portion, thedesign portion and the tubular portion so that the glass guide portionhas a concave-shaped cross section surrounding the edge of the doorglass, by forming the tubular portion to have a uniform cross sectionover a range from the upper sash portion to the side sash portion, andby performing a bending process on the corner portion; and an exteriormember which covers the design portion of each of the upper sash portionand the side sash portion of the frame body from the vehicle exteriorside, wherein the frame body is configured such that a width of thedesign portion varies at at least one area along the length of thedesign portion.

In the frame body, by making the design portion in the glass guideportion formation area vary in width, variations can be given to thecross sectional shape of the glass guide portion, more specifically tothe glass holding width. For instance, by making the width of the designportion in the glass guide portion formation area greater in the sidesash portion than in the upper sash portion, the glass holding width canbe increased in the side sash portion while the width of the designportion of the door frame can be reduced in the upper sash portion.

It is desirable to cut out the design portion at the corner portionbetween the upper sash portion and the side sash portion.

The present invention also provides a method of producing a vehicle doorframe which includes an upper sash portion that holds an upper edge ofan upward/downward movable door glass, a side sash portion that holds aside edge of the door glass and a corner portion positioned at aboundary between the upper sash portion and the side sash portion, themethod including forming a frame body which is continuous from the uppersash portion to the side sash portion by forming a linear member from ametal plate which has a length extending at least from the upper sashportion to the side sash portion so that the linear member has anuniform cross sectional shape which includes a glass-opposing portionthat is opposed to an edge of the door glass, a design portion that ispositioned on one side of the glass-opposing portion on a vehicleexterior side, a tubular portion that is positioned on the other side ofthe glass-opposing portion on a vehicle interior side, and a glass guideportion which has a concave-shaped cross section surrounding the edge ofthe door glass by the glass-opposing portion, the design portion and thetubular portion; and by bending the linear member at the corner portion;performing a process of making a width of the design portion of theframe body vary at least one area along length of the design portion;and covering the design portion of the frame body with an exteriormember from the vehicle exterior side.

Advantageous Effects of the Invention

According to the present invention of the above, the production cost canbe kept down and the productivity is excellent compared with a structurein which separate frames are joined to each other at a corner of thedoor because the body of the door frame that includes the designportion, the tubular portion, the glass-opposing portion and the glassguide portion is configured from the frame body that consists of asingle member which is continuous from the upper sash portion to theside sash portion. In addition, the vehicle door frame structureaccording to the present invention is superior in ensuring the strengthof the door frame. Additionally, an appropriate width of the designportion can be easily set for each portion of the frame by making thedesign portion in the frame body vary in width at least one area alonglength of the design portion. For instance, by making the design portionin the glass guide portion formation area vary in width, variations canbe given to the width for holding the door glass by the glass guideportion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view a door frame to which the presentinvention has been applied;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a cross sectional shape of aportion of an inner frame which serves as an element of the door frameshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is across sectional view of the upper sash portion of the innerframe, taken along the line A-A shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the rear side sash portion of theinner frame, taken along the line B-B shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a front corner portion of theinner frame;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the door frame inthe vicinity of the front corner portion in a completed state of thedoor frame;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the rear corner portion of theinner frame;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the door frame inthe vicinity of the rear corner portion in a completed state of the doorframe;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an outline structure of a vehicle door; and

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view taken along the line C-C shown in FIG.9, showing an example of a conventional door frame.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

A door frame 10 that is shown in FIG. 1 in an exploded state is aportion corresponding to the door frame 52 of the door 50 that has beendescribed above with reference to FIG. 9. The door frame 10 is appliedto a front right door of a passenger vehicle. The door frame 10 iscomposed of an inner frame (frame body) 11, an exterior member 12, afront corner patch 13, a rear corner patch 14 and a reinforcement member15.

The inner frame 11 is formed of a sheet metal material; firstly formedinto a linear member having the cross sectional shape shown in FIGS. 2through 4 by roll forming process, and subsequently deformed by bendingat a front corner portion H1 and a rear corner portion H2 atintermediate points in the lengthwise direction to form a front sidesash portion 11X, an upper sash side portion 11Y and a rear side sashportion 11Z. The area surrounded by the front side sash portion 11X, theupper sash side portion 11Y and the rear side sash portion 11Z isdefined as a window opening 16 in which a door glass G (FIGS. 3 and 4)is moved up and down. In the following descriptions, the side of theinner frame 11 which faces the window opening 16 is referred to as theinner periphery of the inner frame 11 (the door frame 10) and theopposite side of the inner frame 11 from the inner periphery thereof isreferred to as the outer periphery of the inner frame 11. After thecompletion of the door frame 10, the lower parts of the front side sashportion 11X and the rear side sash portion 11Z are fixed to a door panelnot shown in the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 2 through 4, the inner frame 11 is provided with atubular portion 11 a having a closed cross sectional shape which ispositioned on the vehicle interior side; a pair of planate portions(glass-opposing portion) 11 b and 11 c which extend toward the vehicleexterior side in a direction substantially parallel to the tubularportion 11 a; an outer-periphery design portion 11 d which is formed bybending the end of the planate portion 11 b on the vehicle exterior sidetoward the outer periphery of the inner frame 11; and an inner-peripherydesign portion (glass guide portion formation area in the designportion) 11 e which is formed by bending the end of the planate portion11 c on the vehicle exterior side toward the inner periphery of theinner frame 11. In other words, the inner frame 11 has a structure suchthat the tubular portion 11 a, which is positioned on the vehicleinterior side, and the design portions 11 d and 11 e, which arepositioned on the vehicle exterior side, are connected to each other viathe planate portions 11 b and 11 c, respectively, that are opposed to anouter edge of the door glass G. Part of the tubular portion 11 aconstitutes an upright wall portion 11 f which faces the inner-peripherydesign portion 11 e, and a concave-shaped cross sectional portion whichis open toward the inner periphery of the inner frame 11 (to the windowopening 16) constitutes the glass guide portion 20 with theinner-periphery design portion 11 e and the upright wall portion 11 f asside walls and with the planate portion 11 c as the base surface.Although not shown in the drawings, a glass run made of an elasticmaterial is held in the glass guide portion 20. Similar to the glass run56 shown in FIG. 10, this glass run has lips which elastically hold,from the vehicle interior side and the vehicle exterior side, both sidesof an edge of the door glass G which has entered the glass guide portion20. A stepped portion 11 g is formed on the upright wall portion 11 f asa retainer which retains the glass run.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, in the front side sash portion 11X and theupper sash portion 11Y of the inner frame 11, the outer-periphery designportion 11 d and the inner-periphery design portion 11 e are aligned tobe substantially flush with each other so as to constitute a designportion which faces toward the vehicle external side. On the other hand,in the rear side sash portion 11Z, the outer-periphery design portion 11d is cut out, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7; instead, an outer-peripherydesign portion 15 a (FIG. 4) of the reinforcement member 15 and theinner-periphery design portion 11 e constitute a design portion whichfaces toward the vehicle exterior side. As shown in FIG. 4, thereinforcement member 15 is provided with a support plate portion 15 bwhich extends along the planate portion 11 b of the inner frame 11, andthe outer-periphery design portion 15 a faces toward the vehicleexterior side at a position away from the inner-periphery design portion11 e with the support plate portion 15 b fixed to the planate portion 11b.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, in the inner frame 11, the design portion(the outer-periphery design portion 11 d and the inner-periphery designportion 11 e) and a part of the planate portions 11 b and 11 c are cutout at each of the front corner portion H1, which corresponds to theboundary between the front side sash portion 11X and the upper sashportion 11Y, and the rear corner portion H2, which corresponds to theboundary between the upper sash portion 11Y and the rear side sashportion 11Z, so that only the entire part of the tubular portion 11 aand part of the planate portions 11 b and 11 c remain. This cutting outof the design portion is carried out after bending process for formingeach corner portion H1 and H2 is performed on the inner frame 11,thereby removing improperly deformed portions such as wrinkles createdby the aforementioned bending process. Since the tubular portion 11 aremains at each corner portion H1 and H2, the inner frame 11 as a wholecan secure a sufficient strength even if the design portion is cut out.

The front corner patch 13 and the rear corner patch 14 are installed tothe front corner portion H1 and the rear corner portion H2 of the innerframe 11, respectively. The front corner patch 13 is provided with aconnection design portion 13 a (partly shown in FIGS. 1 and 6) which issubstantially flush with the outer-periphery design portion 11 d and theinner-periphery design portion 11 e of the inner frame 11 in a statewhere the front corner patch 13 is fixed to the front corner portion H1.The rear corner patch 14 is provided with a connection design portion 14a (partly shown in FIGS. 1 and 8) which is substantially flush with theinner-periphery design portion 11 e of the inner frame 11 and theouter-periphery design portion 15 a of the reinforcement member 15 in astate where the rear corner patch 14 is fixed to the rear corner portionH2.

The exterior member 12 for covering these design portions is installedin a state where each corner patch 13 and 14 and the reinforcementmember 15 are installed to the inner frame 11 as described above. Asshown in FIG. 1, the exterior member 12 is provided with a front sideportion 12X, an upper portion 12Y and a rear side portion 12Z which areformed to correspond to the front side sash portion 11X, the upper sashportion 11Y and the rear side sash portion 11Z of the inner frame 11,respectively. The exterior member 12 is brought into contact with thedesign portions (11 d, 11 e, 13 a, 14 a and 15 a) of the inner frame 11,the front and rear corner patches 13 and 14 and the reinforcement member15 from the vehicle external side and fixed thereto by hemming, in whichboth edges of the exterior member 12 are folded back toward the vehicleinterior side.

Specifically, the exterior member 12 is formed so that the rear sideportion 12Z is greater in width than the front side portion 12X and theupper portion 12Y. As shown in FIG. 3, the upper portion 12Y of theexterior member 12 is joined to the upper sash portion 11Y of the innerframe 11 by clamping the outer-periphery design portion 11 d and theinner-periphery design portion 11 e with hemmed portions 12 b and 12 c,respectively, which are formed by folding back the outer and innerperipheral edges of a design surface 12 a toward the vehicle interiorside with the design surface 12 a brought in contact with vehicleexternal side surfaces of the outer-periphery design portion 11 d andthe inner-periphery design portion 11 e. Although a detailed crosssectional shape is omitted, the joining structure of the front sideportion 12X of the exterior member 12 to the front side sash portion 11Xis similar to this joining structure (see FIG. 6). The folding-backamount (width) of each hemmed portion 12 b and 12 c in each of the frontside portion 12X and the upper portion 12Y is substantially constantover the exterior member 12 in the lengthwise direction thereof, howeverthe folding-back amount (width) of the hemmed portion 12 b and (or) thehemmed portion 12 c in the front side portion 12X and (or) the upperportion 12Y can vary.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rear side portion 12Z of the exterior member 12is joined to the inner frame 11 by clamping the inner-periphery designportion 11 e with the hemmed portion 12 c that is formed by folding theinner peripheral edge of a wide design surface 12 a-W back toward thevehicle interior side with the wide design surface 12 a-W brought incontact with vehicle external side surfaces of the outer-peripherydesign portion 15 a of the reinforcement member 15 and theinner-periphery design portion 11 e of the inner frame 11 so as toextend over these vehicle external side surfaces. On the other hand, therear side portion 12Z of the exterior member 12 is joined to thereinforcement member 15 by clamping the outer-periphery design portion15 a with the hemmed portion 12 b that is formed by folding back theouter peripheral edge of the wide design surface 12 a-W toward thevehicle interior side. The folding-back amount (width) of each hemmedportion 12 b and 12 c in the rear side portion 12Z is substantiallyconstant over the exterior member 12 in the lengthwise directionthereof, however the folding-back amount (width) of the hemmed portion12 b and (or) the hemmed portion 12 c in the rear side portion 12Z canvary.

Additionally, in the front corner portion H1, the exterior member 12 andthe front corner patch 13 are joined to each other by clamping theconnection design portion 13 a of the front corner patch 13 with thehemmed portions 12 b and 12 c of each of the front side portion 12X andthe upper portion 12Y (see FIG. 6). In the rear corner portion H2, theexterior member 12 and the rear corner patch 14 are joined to each otherby clamping the connection design portion 14 a of the rear corner patch14 with the hemmed portions 12 b and 12 c of each of the upper portion12Y and the rear side portion 12Z (see FIG. 8).

As described above, since the door frame 10 has a structure such thatthe basic form of the door frame is configured by the inner frame 11,which is composed of a single member, over the whole of the front andrear side sash portions and the upper sash portion and that only theouter surface of the design portion of the door frame 10 is covered bythe exterior member 12, the door frame 10 can be easily assembled andproduced at low cost and is superior in strength compared with astructure in which separate frame members are joined to each other at adoor corner portion.

In the inner frame 11, the outer-periphery design portion 11 d and theinner-periphery design portion 11 e are cut out at the front cornerportion H1 and the rear corner portion H2 and the outer-periphery designportion 11 d is cut out at the rear side sash portion 11Z; however,other parts of the inner frame 11, especially the tubular portion 11 abasically has a uniform cross sectional shape over the entirety of theinner frame 11 in the lengthwise direction thereof. Whereas, as for theinner-periphery design portion 11 e that constitutes a side wall of theglass guide portion 20 on the vehicle exterior side, the width (amountof projection from the planate portion 11 c in a direction toward theinner periphery of the frame) D2 in the rear side sash portion 11Z isset to be greater than the width (amount of projection from the planateportion 11 c in a direction toward the inner periphery of the frame) D1in the upper sash portion 11Y as can be seen from a comparison betweenFIGS. 3 and 4. Due to this difference between the width D1 and the widthD2, the overlapping width E1 between the door glass G which enters theglass guide portion 20 and the inner-periphery design portion 11 e inthe upper sash portion 11Y, and the overlapping width E2 between thedoor glass G which enters the glass guide portion 20 and theinner-periphery design portion 11 e in the rear side sash portion 11Zare mutually different, i.e., the condition E1<E2 is attained. In otherwords, since the inner-periphery design portion 11 e constitutes oneside wall of the glass guide portion 20, the width (E2) for holding thedoor glass G by the glass guide portion 20 in the rear side sash portion11Z becomes greater than the width (E1) for holding the door glass G bythe glass guide portion 20 in the upper sash portion 11Y. With thisstructure, the installation of the glass run (not shown) to the glassguide portion 20 increases the holding strength for the door glass G tothereby make it possible to reliably prevent the door glass G fromvibrating and rattling in the rear side sash portion 11Z. On the otherhand, in the upper sash portion 11Y, the width of inner-periphery designportion 11 e is reduced, which makes it possible to narrow the designportion, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in design of the doorframe 10. Since the door glass G is in the fully closed state when theupper edge of the door glass G enters the glass guide portion 20 of theupper sash portion 11Y, the door glass G can be held with a narrowholding width (E1) with a sufficient degree of stability, unlike therear side sash portion 11Z that is required to hold the door glass Geven in a half-open state thereof.

As a technique for making the inner-periphery design portion 11 e of theupper sash portion 11Y and the inner-periphery design portion 11 e ofthe rear side sash portion 11Z different in width from each other, it ispossible to first form the inner-periphery design portion 11 e of theentire inner frame 11 with the wide width D2 for the rear side sashportion 11Z and thereafter cut out a part of the inner-periphery designportion 11 e in the widthwise direction thereof to form theinner-periphery design portion 11 e with the narrow width D1 for theupper sash portion 11Y. Alternatively, it is possible to first form theinner-periphery design portion 11 e of the entire inner frame 11 withthe narrow width D1 for the upper sash portion 11Y and thereafter add awidth-widening part thereto to form the inner-periphery design portion11 e with the wide width D2 for the rear side sash portion 11Z. From theviewpoint of productivity and strength, it is desirable to adopt theformer technique, in which the wide-width design portion is partly cutout.

The width of the inner periphery design portion 11 e can be made to besubstantially uniform or vary gradually within the range of each of thefront side sash portion 11X, the upper sash portion 11Y and the rearside sash portion 11Z.

In addition, it is possible to provide variations to the width of thedesign portion of the inner frame 11 by partly cutting out theouter-periphery design portion 11 d instead of the inner-peripherydesign portion 11 e.

Although described above based on the illustrated embodiment, thepresent invention is not limited to this embodiment. For instance,although the inner frame 11 includes the front side sash portion 11Xthat bends at the front corner portion H1 with respect to the upper sashportion 11Y in the present embodiment of the door frame 10, the presentinvention can also be applied to a type of door frame in which the innerframe includes no bent portion corresponding to the front corner portionH1 and in which the upper sash portion is gently curved to be connectedto a door panel.

Additionally, although the reinforcement member 15 that is a separatemember from the inner frame 11 is used for the formation of a designportion at the rear side sash portion 11Z of the inner frame 11 in thepresent embodiment, it is possible to form the design portion solely bythe inner frame 11 in a similar manner to the upper sash portion 11Y.More specifically, it is possible to leave the outer-periphery designportion 11 d without cutting out the rear side sash portion 11Z to formthe design portion from the outer-periphery design portion 11 d and theinner-periphery design portion 11 e.

Additionally, although the tubular portion 11 a of the inner frame 11 ofthe present embodiment is formed to have a closed cross section, thepresent invention can also be applied to a door frame provided with atubular portion having no closed cross section.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above in detail, the present invention relates to a doorframe structure applied to a vehicle such as an automobile and a methodof producing the door frame, and a reduction in production cost, animprovement in productivity and an improvement in strength of the doorframe can be achieved by forming the body of the door frame from a framebody consisting of a single member which is continuous from the uppersash portion to the side sash portion. In addition, the degree offreedom in vehicle design can be increased by setting an appropriatewidth of the design portion at each portion of the frame by making thewidth of the design portion in the frame body vary at least one point inthe lengthwise direction of the design portion.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   10 Door frame    -   11 Inner frame (frame body)    -   11 a Tubular portion    -   11 b 11 c Planate portion (glass-opposing portion)    -   11 d Outer-periphery design portion    -   11 e Inner-periphery design portion (glass guide portion        formation area in a design portion)    -   11 f Upright wall portion    -   11 g Stepped portion    -   11X Front side sash portion    -   11Y Upper sash portion    -   11Z Rear side sash portion    -   12 Exterior member    -   12 a 12 a-W Design surface    -   12 b 12 c Hemmed portion    -   12X Front side portion    -   12Y Upper portion    -   12Z Rear side portion    -   13 Front corner patch    -   13 a Connection design portion    -   14 Rear corner patch    -   14 a Connection design portion    -   15 Reinforcement member    -   15 a Outer-periphery design portion    -   15 b Support plate portion    -   16 Window opening    -   20 Glass guide portion    -   G Door glass    -   H1 Front corner portion    -   H2 Rear corner portion

1. A vehicle door frame structure which includes an upper sash portionthat holds an upper edge of an upward/downward movable door glass, aside sash portion that holds a side edge of said door glass and a cornerportion positioned at a boundary between said upper sash portion andsaid side sash portion, said vehicle door frame structure comprising: aframe body which includes a glass-opposing portion that is opposed to anedge of said door glass, a design portion that is positioned on one sideof said glass-opposing portion on a vehicle exterior side and a tubularportion that is positioned on the other side of said glass-opposingportion on a vehicle interior side, wherein said frame body isstructured as a single member which is continuous from said upper sashportion to said side sash portion by forming a glass guide portion fromsaid glass-opposing portion, said design portion and said tubularportion so that said glass guide portion has a concave-shaped crosssection surrounding said edge of said door glass, by forming saidtubular portion to have a uniform cross section over a range from saidupper sash portion to said side sash portion, and by performing abending process on said corner portion; and an exterior member whichcovers the design portion of each of said upper sash portion and saidside sash portion of said frame body from said vehicle exterior side,wherein said frame body is configured such that a width of said designportion varies at least one area along the length of said designportion.
 2. The vehicle door frame structure according to claim 1,wherein said frame body is configured such that the width of said designportion in an area in which said glass guide portion is formed varies atleast said one area along the length of said design portion.
 3. Thevehicle door frame structure according to claim 2, wherein said width ofsaid design portion in said glass guide portion formation area isgreater in said side sash portion than in said upper sash portion. 4.The vehicle door frame structure according to one of claim 1, whereinsaid design portion has been cut out at said corner portion in saidframe body.
 5. A method of producing a vehicle door frame which includesan upper sash portion that holds an upper edge of an upward/downwardmovable door glass, a side sash portion that holds a side edge of saiddoor glass and a corner portion positioned at a boundary between saidupper sash portion and said side sash portion, said method comprising:forming a frame body which is continuous from said upper sash portion tosaid side sash portion by forming a linear member from a metal platewhich has a length extending at least from said upper sash portion tosaid side sash portion so that said linear member has an uniform crosssectional shape which includes a glass-opposing portion that is opposedto an edge of said door glass, a design portion that is positioned onone side of said glass-opposing portion on a vehicle exterior side, atubular portion that is positioned on the other side of saidglass-opposing portion on a vehicle interior side, and a glass guideportion which has a concave-shaped cross section surrounding said edgeof said door glass by said glass-opposing portion, said design portionand said tubular portion; and by bending said linear member at saidcorner portion, performing a process of making a width of said designportion of said frame body vary at least one area along length of saiddesign portion, and covering said design portion of said frame body withan exterior member from said vehicle exterior side.